Blockhead

Profile details

Tony Simon AKA Blockhead was born and raised in Downtown Manhattan, in New York City. The son of an artist, he found a fondness for music at a young age. In particular, he fell in love with Hip Hop. In his early teens he began penning rhymes and eventually was part of a group called The Overground with a bunch of his friends. While he loved rapping, he also always had an interest in the musical side of things so he would soon abandon his dreams of being a rapper for being the man who made the beats. This was a wise choice.

Eventually, he and his friend Aesop Rock would meet and begin to make music together and release it on the internet. In 2000, Aesop’s album Float was released on Mush Records and quickly propelled both Aesop and Blockhead into notoriety. After that, Blockhead released a breakbeat album on Mush called Blockhead’s Broke Beats.

After a few years more years of making beats for rappers, Blockhead put out his first solo instrumental record on Ninja Tune records , titled Music by Cavelight. This was the first of four critically acclaimed albums he has since released on the UK based label.

He also was one half of the comedy rap duo Party Fun Action Committee, which was released on Definitive Jux records in 2003.

As well as making solo albums and working with Aesop, blockhead has also worked with artists like Murs, Slug, Mike Ladd, Cage, Open Mike Eagle, Maclethal, SA Smash, Isaiah Toothtaker, Illogic and others.

Blockhead has also been busy touring the last 14 years with groups like Aesop Rock, Dj Cam, Amon Tobin, Bonobo, Kid Koala, Cold Cut, Emancipator, and many others.